Mets dream of 90-win season over in 7-2 loss to Phillies

The spring training challenge by general manager Sandy Alderson, which he said was to change the mind-set in Flushing, is now just a symbol of yet another lost season.

The Mets fell to the Phillies, 7-2, on Saturday night at Citi Field, falling to 63-73 with 26 games remaining. The Mets were stymied by Jerome Williams, while starter Bartolo Colon struggled.

“This season hasn’t gone the way we would’ve liked it to,” Mets third baseman David Wright said. “We all put forth expectations for ourselves, and whether it’s individual or the team, when you don’t meet those expectations of course it’s disappointing.”

During spring training, Alderson issued the 90-win challenge, which he continues to say was a way to get the organization to think about what it takes to win that number of games, and change the losing culture.

There was plenty of skepticism before the season regarding the challenge, as the Mets’ roster had and still has several holes, but Alderson stressed that the Mets needed to think about how they can improve, as they last made the playoffs in 2006.

“From my standpoint, the right thing to do is set a lofty goal and figure out a way to achieve it,” Alderson said before the March 31 season opener. “If we don’t achieve it, we will at least have achieved the notion that we’re thinking about ourselves differently. We’re setting expectations for ourselves differently and I can tell you that individuals on this team have been thinking in those terms. What do we have to do?”

Hours after Alderson made that statement, the Mets lost the season opener to the Nationals by blowing a ninth-inning lead in an eventual 9-7 loss, setting an ominous tone for the season.

While they finished April with a 15-11 record, they were under .500 at May’s conclusion, and they have not been within three games of .500 since June 4.

At the break, the Mets were 45-50, but they’ve gone 18-23 in the second half to fall even further behind in the NL East race.

The offense once again did not muster much Saturday, held down by Williams (5-5), a journeyman who entered the game with a 5.42 ERA.

In the seventh, with the Mets down, 6-2, and the bases loaded and two out, Curtis Granderson, on his bobblehead night, struck out to end the threat.

Colon (12-11) endured his worst start of the season against the Phillies, whom he was 3-0 with a 1.59 ERA against in three previous outings this year.

These past few weeks have been tough for the veteran, as his mother, Adriana, died Aug. 18.

After five solid innings, Colon fell apart in the sixth. The Phillies started the inning with four straight hits, the last a two-run single by Ryan Howard that gave them a 3-0 lead, and they added three more run-scoring singles to take a 6-0 advantage.

Colon allowed six runs on nine hits in 5¤ innings.

“They made adjustments,” Colon said through an interpreter . “I made some good pitches but they put them in play.”

As the Mets try to reach .500, they’ve already turned an eye to 2015, implementing youngsters into the lineup to see if they can contribute next season.

Another losing season is inching closer and closer, but Wright wants to see his team battle in the season’s final month.

“There’s a lot to play for this last month,” Wright said. “Whether it’s personally or for guys trying to win playing time, win jobs for next year, trying to finish on a positive note to kind of springboard into next year, if we can finish strong both as a team and individually, hopefully that will help us moving forward.”

The spring training challenge by general manager Sandy Alderson, which he said was to change the mind-set in Flushing, is now just a symbol of yet another lost season.

The Mets fell to the Phillies, 7-2, on Saturday night at Citi Field, falling to 63-73 with 26 games remaining. The Mets were stymied by Jerome Williams, while starter Bartolo Colon struggled.

“This season hasn’t gone the way we would’ve liked it to,” Mets third baseman David Wright said. “We all put forth expectations for ourselves, and whether it’s individual or the team, when you don’t meet those expectations of course it’s disappointing.”

During spring training, Alderson issued the 90-win challenge, which he continues to say was a way to get the organization to think about what it takes to win that number of games, and change the losing culture.

There was plenty of skepticism before the season regarding the challenge, as the Mets’ roster had and still has several holes, but Alderson stressed that the Mets needed to think about how they can improve, as they last made the playoffs in 2006.

“From my standpoint, the right thing to do is set a lofty goal and figure out a way to achieve it,” Alderson said before the March 31 season opener. “If we don’t achieve it, we will at least have achieved the notion that we’re thinking about ourselves differently. We’re setting expectations for ourselves differently and I can tell you that individuals on this team have been thinking in those terms. What do we have to do?”

Hours after Alderson made that statement, the Mets lost the season opener to the Nationals by blowing a ninth-inning lead in an eventual 9-7 loss, setting an ominous tone for the season.

While they finished April with a 15-11 record, they were under .500 at May’s conclusion, and they have not been within three games of .500 since June 4.

At the break, the Mets were 45-50, but they’ve gone 18-23 in the second half to fall even further behind in the NL East race.

The offense once again did not muster much Saturday, held down by Williams (5-5), a journeyman who entered the game with a 5.42 ERA.

In the seventh, with the Mets down, 6-2, and the bases loaded and two out, Curtis Granderson, on his bobblehead night, struck out to end the threat.

Colon (12-11) endured his worst start of the season against the Phillies, whom he was 3-0 with a 1.59 ERA against in three previous outings this year.

These past few weeks have been tough for the veteran, as his mother, Adriana, died Aug. 18.

After five solid innings, Colon fell apart in the sixth. The Phillies started the inning with four straight hits, the last a two-run single by Ryan Howard that gave them a 3-0 lead, and they added three more run-scoring singles to take a 6-0 advantage.

Colon allowed six runs on nine hits in 5¤ innings.

“They made adjustments,” Colon said through an interpreter . “I made some good pitches but they put them in play.”

As the Mets try to reach .500, they’ve already turned an eye to 2015, implementing youngsters into the lineup to see if they can contribute next season.

Another losing season is inching closer and closer, but Wright wants to see his team battle in the season’s final month.

“There’s a lot to play for this last month,” Wright said. “Whether it’s personally or for guys trying to win playing time, win jobs for next year, trying to finish on a positive note to kind of springboard into next year, if we can finish strong both as a team and individually, hopefully that will help us moving forward.”